Duke Basketball: Kobe Bryant rejoins team Blue Devil on Twitter
Kobe Bryant once again decided to fire up the old ‘what if’ machine and address where he would have gone to college.
One thing that was missing from college basketball in the 1990s was Kobe Bryant. It was a time before the one and done. Bryant declared for the draft immediately in 1996, one year after Kevin Garnett had begun the modern era of high school players skipping the draft. As the thirteenth pick to the Charlotte Hornets, Bryant never played an NCAA minute or scored an NCAA point.
Over the years there has been a debate about where Bryant would have spent his NCAA years if he had decided to go that path. On Sunday night, Bryant revealed on twitter that he would have gone to Duke. Bryant went on further to explain that Dean Smith stopped recruiting him after it was clear Bryant was going pro while Mike Krzyzewski continued to recruit Kobe to the bitter end.
There are two reactions that one can have based on this revelation. The first is no surprise since Bryant has never made a secret of his fondness for Krzyzewski. Krzyzewski was courted by the Lakers to become Kobe’s head coach on occasion (K opted to remain at Duke). Bryant was supportive of Krzyzewski taking over USA Basketball so that Bryant could finally play for the guy. The idea of Bryant becoming a Blue Devil would make too much sense, especially as Krzyzewski looked for a boost coming off of the 1995 season (the back problem season).
That was the going line on Kobe until four years ago. Bryant stated in 2013 that he would have gone to North Carolina. His line that time was the desire to practice head to head against Vince Carter all of the time. Both Carter and Bryant were considered ‘the next Michael Jordan’ at various times in their careers due to athleticism. Ultimately Bryant got closer to that legend, but he wanted the mantle enough to want and beat Carter for it. Carolina would also have been the logical place to claim Jordan’s throne from (although the irony of doing it from Durham would not have been lost on Bryant).
In 2017, Smith has passed on and Bryant is now back to saying he would gone to Duke. Perhaps the decision just depends on Kobe’s state of mind at the moment. It is fair to say that the 2013 comment remains the anomaly in the pattern and Duke remains the common thread through all of this, but Bryant might change up again to keep it interesting or stay topical.